


Where There's Smoke

by amberwoods



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fugitives, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, slytherins are underrated, the ministry is a spiteful brick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 03:37:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8952361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amberwoods/pseuds/amberwoods
Summary: Theodore Nott has been hiding at the Greengrass estate for months when the ministry finds him, and suddenly he and Daphne are on the run.





	

The world was in uproar. It felt like smoke was seeping through every crack of reality, the taste of magic full of hatred in the air, meticulous magic ready to cut off the rotting branches from the big tree.

Even if there was no smell of rot. Even if there was nothing wrong with the branch. Just in case.

“Where are we going?!”

They were running up the stairs of a tower. It was small and an obvious dead end and he had no clue where she meant for them to go. They wouldn’t even have time to apparate.

She was running up the stairs before him, dragging him along by his wrist. Her blond hair was bouncing off her shoulders with every step. “I told you the were coming!” she screamed at him over her shoulder.

“Daphne, there’s nowhere we can go!”

Did she mean to jump?

His whole body recoiled from the thought. Yes, life was miserable at the moment, what with the ministry trying to put him in Azkaban because his father was a Death Eater and being homeless and broke. Yet none of that was bad enough to make him want to die. He was a fighter.

Dozens of footsteps followed them up, the echo hollow and overwhelming. They were like hunted animals.

Flashes of light crashed into the stone around them. Theo threw a curse over his shoulder as well, hoping to slow them down at least a little.

A magically enhanced voice resounded through the spiralling staircase.

“Daphne Greengrass. You are under arrest for harbouring a Death Eater.”

Death Eater, Death Eater, he was sick of the title. So just because he’d never taken a side, they pinned one on him? He’d done his goddamn best not to get wrapped up in his father’s business and this was all he got – assumptions.

And the love of his life, under arrest.

Finally they reached the top of the tower and Daphne screamed a spell, her wand out, looking like a wrathful goddess. The heavy door slammed door behind them.

“That’s not going to hold them,” Theo said impatiently.

Daphne had turned away from him and was undoing the magical locks on a wooden chest. “It doesn’t have to,” she stammered, out of breath.

By the time she’d opened the chest, magic was pouring against the door on the other side. Theo was staring at it, sweat dripping into his eyes. Then suddenly he was yanked away by his wrist again. He stumbled towards the chest. Daphne grabbed his hand and pulled it into the chest. A small latch had opened at the bottom, held up by an iron pin.

“Touch the pin!”

With magic still crashing into the house behind them, Theo and Daphne put their fingers on the little piece of iron. Immediately, they were swept away through reality.

_Portkey._

Theo felt an unexpected nausea twirl in his stomach and when the strange sensation stopped, he was on his knees in wet grass, trying not to hurl out all of the food he’d had that day.

Daphne was sitting beside him, panting, planted on the grass on her buttocks like a doll.

He groaned. “Where are we?”

“Not safe,” Daphne managed to say.

She got to her feet and pulled him up by his shoulders. “Come on,” she said, “We have to _go_.”

“Where are we?” he asked again.

“Europe.”

“What?”

“This is not the time to be disoriented, Theo! Get going!”

Confused, he let Daphne drag him away again. He was counting on her wit. Daphne always had a plan. He admired that about her. Always had.

When he looked up, he noticed they were going in the direction of a forest. It reminded him eerily of the Forbidden Forest and his stomach protested again, but he didn’t stop. She was right. They weren’t safe.

Once they were beneath the trees, he groaned out an apology. “You sister,” he said, “Will she be okay?”

“She’s not living at home,” Daphne said, “And she’s been advocating for muggle rights for the past four years. They won’t hold this against her.”

“Your house…”

“It’s gone,” she said sternly.

She was right, of course. They probably burned it down.

“I’m sorry,” he stammered again.

Suddenly, Daphne turned to him, the air sending up her hair. She put her hands on his cheek and pulled him closer than he’d ever been.

“ _You_ didn’t burn down my house, Theo,” she said, “Not even your father did. The _ministry_ did. You are in no way accountable.”

“I’m a fugitive.”

She let go of him. “And now, so am I. Care to show me the ropes?”

He groaned again, full of frustration and reluctant acceptance. This time, he grabbed _her_ hand, and together they continued their path through the forest.

“Europe is big,” he said, “What part are we in?”

“I thought you were supposed to be brilliant,” she answered. She gestured at their surroundings. “Can’t you deduce it from the trees?”

He snorted. “As a fellow genius, I’m sure you know we can’t do everything.”

She blushed lightly. “You’re a charmer, Theodore Nott.”

“And you,” he said, squeezing her hand, “Just saved my life.”

She was quiet for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice was trembling. “They... They wouldn’t have killed you, would they?”

“I don’t know. Let’s not find out.” He looked at her and tried to smile. “You’re really going to have to tell me where we are.”

“Bulgaria,” she said softly.

“Lovely,” he answered, “They’re supposed to have great wildlife. Great place to start a new life.”

“We won’t be able to stay.”

“Of course not. We’ll be running across the world until we can figure out a way to prove I’m not a Death Eater. Or you, for that matter. You’ve kind of put yourself in a bad light.”

She let out a staggering breath, her eyes desperate. “How are we going to do that?”

Again, he squeezed her hand. “We’re geniuses. We’ll figure something out.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
